Australia will be sending a team of 257 athletes to Glasgow, Scotland for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which will run from July 23 until August 2. It's an opportunity to test themselves on the international stage as we mark two years until the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, sprint sensation Gout Gout will not be one of them. The 18-year-old had initially opted out of the event in Scotland to focus on the U20 world championships, only to suffer a partial tendon tear in his left hamstring during a training session that has now ended his 2026 season.
But back to Glasgow. Here are seven names in track and field that Australians should be keeping front of mind ahead of what promises to be an enthralling 11 days of competition.
Matt Denny
Australia's discus bronze medallist from Paris will be chasing more hardware in Glasgow in what will be the third appearance of his career at the Commonwealth Games.
Season 2025 was a frustrating one for Denny. The 30-year-old set a new national discus record at the beginning of the year with a throw of 74.78m in Ramona, Oklahoma, an effort that would have been good enough for a world record had superstar Lithuanian rival Mykolas Alekna not twice thrown further in the same meet.
Denny was primed to contend for the top step of the podium at the world championships in Tokyo later in the year, but ultimately ended up being one of many who struggled with the comical, almost monsoonal conditions in the final on the last evening of competition.
In his two previous Commonwealth Games, Denny won silver at Gold Coast 2018 and was crowned champion at Birmingham 2022.
Jess Hull
Glasgow will mark the second time we've seen Jess Hull at the Commonwealth Games, following her appearance in Birmingham four years earlier. Back then, Hull finished a disappointing eighth in the women's 1500m final and was later forced to withdraw from the 5000m after testing positive to COVID-19.
READ: Is Jess Hull Australia's most uncelebrated athlete?
Since then, Hull has established herself as one of the premier middle distance runners on the planet. She won a stunning silver in the 1500m at the Olympic Games in Paris two years ago and then added a bronze to her medal collection with third place in the event at the athletics world championships in Tokyo last year.
Hull, the three-time Australian 1500m champion and four-time 5000m champion, will contest both the mile and 5000m events in Glasgow.
Lachlan Kennedy
An historic sprint double is what Australia's Lachlan Kennedy is chasing in Glasgow after nominating for both the 100m and 200m events in his first Commonwealth Games.
Kennedy didn't contest the 200m at the national championships in April, but with fellow sprint star Gout Gout not making the trip to Scotland, he's now added it to his program.
Over 100m, Kennedy is a national champion and the the first Australian to ever stop the clock under 10 seconds on home soil. Over 200m, he boasts a memorable victory over Gout in their blockbuster clash at the Maurie Plant Meet in March earlier this year.
Kennedy's personal best of 9.96s in the 100m, set at this year's national trials, would have won him gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham four years ago. His fastest 200m time, 20.26s, would have been good enough for bronze at those same championships. Keep your eyes on him!
Nina Kennedy
Australia's Olympic pole vault champion has endured a horror run of injuries since her famous triumph at the Stade de France 24 months ago. Kennedy spent much of 2025 on the sidelines, battling ongoing hamstring issues that left her doubting whether she would ever be able to compete at the top level again.
READ: Nina Kennedy's euphoria to heartbreak
Kennedy tore the muscle in her left hamstring three times in the space of six weeks, leaving her with no choice but to go under the knife and have it surgically repaired. Her recovery timeline blew out significantly, however, forcing Kennedy to miss the athletics world championships in Japan last September.
The 29-year-old had slipped to sixth in the world rankings but made a major statement earlier this month by winning the Monaco Diamond League with a massive jump of 4.95m, a new Australian and Oceania record. She backed it up a week later with victory at the Gyulai Memorial Meet in Budapest, proving she's hit top form at the right time.
Kurtis Marschall
History beckon for Australia's pole vault star with Kurtis Marschall looking to win a third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal.
Marschall took out the pole vault title when the Games were on the Gold Coast in 2018 and backed up four years later with another gold medal in Birmingham. Since then, he has secured bronze at the world championships in 2025, before twice upsetting Olympic champion Armand Duplantis in Diamond League events in the first half of 2026.
"I'm incredibly proud to be selected again for Australia. Winning one Commonwealth Games gold was special, but the opportunity to go for a third straight title means everything," Marschall said. "I know the level will be high in Glasgow, but I'm excited to prepare well and give it everything for the green and gold."
Like Kennedy, Marschall enters these Games in great form having just jumped a career-best 6.00m in Budapest. He figures to once against be the the man to beat in Glasgow.
Cameron Myers
Few track athletes have taken the world by storm in the first half of 2026 quite like Australia's Cameron Myers. The 20-year-old middle distance phenom has already been touted as a legitimate Olympic gold medal prospect when the Games are held in Los Angeles in 24 months' time, but before then, we get to watch him test himself at Commonwealth Games level.
Last month, Myers became the fastest Australian of all time over 1500m when he clocked a 3:28.00 to win the Paris Diamond League. That time remains the quickest set by anyone this year in arguably athletics' most hotly-contested race. He also became the first Australian to triumph in the prestigious Bowerman Mile, setting a new Oceania record of 3:46.06 in the process.
It will be the mile that Myers competes in this week in Glasgow. It's a distance he owns the ninth-fastest time ever in and it's little surprise he's the red-hot favourite to win gold.
Nicola Olyslagers
Australian high jump star Nicola Olyslagers will be seeking Commonwealth Games redemption in Glasgow following her heartbreaking injury withdrawal in Birmingham four years earlier. Olyslagers had sustained a tear in her calf during the qualification round and ultimately missed the final upon medical advice.
READ: Olyslagers caps successful world champs for Australia
Things have picked up in a big way since then, however. Olyslagers claimed a famous silver medal at the Olympic Games in Paris with a jump of 2.00m, before going one better last year with gold at the athletics world championships in Tokyo, also with a jump of 2.00m.
This year, Olyslagers jumped 1.99m to take silver at the indoor world championships in Poland. She then won her seventh national high jump title to book her place in Glasgow.